Something for the Someone
by Somber Secrets
Summary: Team 7 all dealt with Sasuke's betrayal and death in different ways. Naruto has become Konoha's best and somehow hardest working Hokage, Kakashi nurses a drink every night at the bar and Sakura has resorted to breaking other peoples hearts.
1. Breakfast for the Broken

Premise: Team 7 all dealt with Sasuke's betrayal and death in different ways. Naruto became Konoha's best and somehow hardest working Hokage, Kakashi nurses a drink every night at the bar and Sakura has resorted to breaking other peoples hearts.

Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto.

Author's Note: This whole entire story started off as something to lead only to KakaSaku, but things change the moment you start writing and I found that I liked this a lot more as an outlook on what happened to Team 7 after the fact. KakaSaku will probably still happen, just a lot later down the road then I had ever intended and the updates will, and I really do warn you, be extremely slow and far between. I don't think I'll ever discontinue this because I like the idea too much, but since I like the idea I don't want to splurge out chapters according to a deadline. However, I do have discontinuing habits so... that is the only warning. Enjoy!

* * *

Chapter One: Breakfast for the Broken

"Sakura-chan, do you have any...?" Naruto threw open the door with a loud bang. A stack of papers was balanced in his hands and a pen was held between his lips as his fingers went back to flipping through the files. He looked up when he heard a yowl, "HOLY SHIT! Kiba?" Naruto shouted as he stared from the door of Sakura's bedroom. The papers slid off of his hand in a cascade and splayed themselves messily all over Sakura's bedroom floor. Kiba, upon the entrance of the Rokudaime Hokage, promptly rolled out of the bed he was occupying with the pink haired kunoichi and landed on the floor with a loud thud. Naruto's eye twitched as one of Kiba's legs remained in the air and convulsed for a second before following the rest of his body to the ground. Said pink-haired kunoichi looked up sullenly from her position on the bed. She was still under the blankets with only her bare back exposed to the whole entire world. Her front was neatly pressed into the mattress and the left side of her face was squished into her pillow. "You've got to be kidding me."

Sakura sighed and turned her face back into her pillow. "Get out of here Kiba."

"But Sakura, you said…"

"Oh, but you said you'd be out of here by dawn so whatever I said doesn't matter anymore does it?" Sakura muttered and shook her head.

Kiba gaped from his spot on the ground and Naruto thanked the heavens that the naked Inuzuka had slept on the other side and had rolled off on the other side and out of view. "Lunch tomorrow then?"

"Maybe," Sakura muttered again and turned her face to look at him in the eye, "Just get out of here for now."

"Alright Sakura, uh and good morning Naruto-sama."

"Don't call me that, I don't like it and you know it. Anyways, the lady said get out Kiba," Naruto muttered as he maturely covered his eyes with both hands. He'd seen every single male of the Konoha 12 naked at one point in his life so it shouldn't have been such a big deal, he just never wished to repeat any of those experiences… ever and plus seeing Kiba with everything hanging out would just remind him that everything hanging had once been inside… and he stopped his thought process right there. Naruto moved to the side and heard Kiba rush out of the door apparently pulling his pants on.

"Ah, good bye then Naruto-sa… Naruto," Kiba shouted back as the door to the apartment slammed close.

Peaking out between his fingers, Naruto sighed in relief when he noticed that Kiba had at least taken the care to not step on any of his paper work. "So let's start that wonderfully exciting morning over…" Naruto muttered as he bit his tongue and stared at the just recently organized papers.

"Let's," Sakura replied as she bent her elbows and braced herself on the mattress. Pushing herself up, Sakura let her long hair cascade over her right shoulder and brush softly against her arm. The dawn light shining through her window and onto her body caused her to glow ever so slightly and Naruto had to marvel at his best friend.

Naruto kneeled down and gathered up his paper work frowning more as he tried to reorganize them into their proper file folders. "Good morning Sakura!" He chirped out gruffly.

Sakura sighed and pushed the blanket off of her and slid her feet off of the bed. Naruto didn't take to modesty with her as he did with the rest of his generation; after all they had been living together for a couple years now. "So what did you need Naruto?" Sakura asked as she pulled on the robe that was hanging on her chair for mornings such as this. Almost every morning.

"I was going to ask you for a working pen, but honestly, I don't think that's the issue anymore," Naruto replied as he picked up the pen that he had been chewing on and tossed it into the garbage. He gave the scattered paperwork a halfhearted glare before he peered up at Sakura with the biggest eyes he could muster.

Sakura giggled and knelt in front of him and picked up half of the paperwork that was strewn across the floor and set it down on her desk to reorganize. Naruto braced himself on his knees and stood to walk over and stand beside her. "Give me your pile," Sakura muttered as she quickly pushed and pulled through the sheets with the dexterity of a professional sorter.

"Sorry about the mess."

"Sorry about the shock."

"All's fair, I didn't knock," Naruto grinned.

"You never knock, it's like you want to see naked men," Sakura laughed dryly and slapped the last file on top of the newly formed pile along with one of her pens.

Naruto scrunched up his nose in distain at Sakura's joke as she gave him a wink, "So… Inuzuka Kiba?"

"What about him?" Sakura asked with a raised eyebrow as she pulled at the hair that had gotten trapped in the collar of her robe.

Naruto just laughed, "Just thought that you would go for someone better smelling."

Sakura smiled and gently punched him on the shoulder; she was the only one who could get away with it now that he had an Anbu squad watching him nearly 24/7. Also she was the head of that squad, so it was the greatest moot point of all moot points. However, she tried her best to hold back every once in a while when it came to her best friend; it wasn't the greatest impression to the other nations if the Rokudaime Hokage was routinely sent flying to the other side of his own village. "You think everyone smells bad," Sakura laughed.

Naruto tapped his nose before Sakura grabbed it and wiggled it around, "Comes with having a fox in you," Naruto sneezed as Sakura let go before his mucus got all over her.

"Do I smell bad?"

"Is there any way to answer that correctly?"

"Sure, I'd just think that my best friend was constantly sniffing me and that is a little bit frightening," Sakura replied with a grin and walked past him with her hand trailing on his shoulder, "Get what ever you can get done while I shower. I'll make you some breakfast after."

"Ramen?"

"What else do you eat?" Sakura replied over her shoulder as she stuck her tongue out at him and slipped into the bathroom adjoining her room.

Naruto shook his head as his grin disappeared into a sad smile. He hefted the stack of paperwork back into his hands effortlessly and trapped the rolling, working pen beneath his nose. Strolling out of the open bedroom door he walked to his initial destination, the dining room, and once again spilled the files over the large wooden desk albeit neatly this time. Pulling out the chair Naruto took the pen between his fingers and flipped it as he sat down. Looking up at the hallway where the bedrooms were and the running sound of water was still playing its sad song, Naruto drew in a deep sigh and pulled the first folder off of the top of the pile.

Like any normal and previous Hokages, the council of elders had offered him a place to stay in the Hokage tower where all the amenities of day to day life would be regularly provided to him and where he would constantly be at work even while he was sleeping. It was for this reason that Sakura had asked him to split rent on a pretty spacious apartment, which she had been planning to move into after he left her at the dingy one they had been sharing already, and that he had agreed to the offer so eagerly. He was the type who would rather bring work home then make work, home.

However, it also meant that he had to watch his best friend as she continued to disintegrate right before his very eyes.

He was sure that Sakura had asked him to split rent on housing again, which she could easily afford by herself, for the main reason of watching over him and making sure that he wouldn't over work himself as the youngest Hokage in existence. She had been right, of course, because this was Sakura he was talking about and she was always right when it came to him.

Which was also why he had appointed her the captain of the mandatory stalking squad, as he liked to call it. That way he could sleep knowing that only his pink haired best friend was around instead of five Anbu he probably barely knew and Sai. Sai, his now best buddy, was on the stalking squad too, second longest shift second to Sakura who was never really off duty anyways, but even imagining that boy watching him sleep at night irked him to no end. After all, best buddy or not, Sai was still creepy Sai.

Sakura, he didn't know if it was because it was her job or if because she was just being herself, it was probably that one, had attacked him on several occasions when he had nearly worked himself to the point of falling asleep at a wooden desk, which should have been near impossible considering the Kyuubi and his chakra still in him, but Naruto guessed that that fact just emphasized her point.

As captain of an Anbu squad meant to protect him, she sure was different from the norm, taking him out for ramen at Ichiraku's constantly just to make sure that he stayed, "Naruto, Konoha's best Hokage evarrrr! Well second to Shishou that is." He really hoped that she had been kidding during that last part because as good of a fighter as Tsunade had been, she had been a terrible Hokage. Shizune had probably been technically the 'Hokage' in the time that the busty blond had ruled over the village. The moment that he had turned twenty-two, the busty blond had basically shoved the title down his throat, along with all the paper work she had not completed, not that he needed it to be shoved, but that was just how scary Tsunade had been; she could make getting his dream job sound like a death sentence. "Old hag is probably gambling away all of her retirement money…" Naruto snickered as he placed aside the first file.

But now, not that he ever hadn't been, Naruto was happy that Sakura cared so much about him because it allowed him to continue to watch over her as well. This was probably the third man he had found in her bed this week. He seriously wondered if they could smell each other while rolling around on her sheets, he could smell all of them lingering on the furniture in the living room after all. Stop thought process, command, now.

The water turned off in her bathroom. Naruto shook his head; Sakura probably cleaned the sheets every single day just to keep this habit of hers going. As bad of a habit as it was.

"Still sure you just want ramen?" Sakura asked as she appeared out of her bedroom door with still just the fluffy pink robe on and her wet, messy hair piled on top of her head.

"Yes, please," Naruto grinned as he set aside the second file. He hated going through D-rank missions, he had done every single one of these. Why were people still requesting to paint that retched fence and how was that cat still even alive enough to keep going missing after all these years?

Sakura smiled at him as she pattered into the kitchen and pulled out an obtusely huge pot. She filled it half way with water before setting it over the stove and turning on the fire. "Five bowls of ramen for breakfast coming right up," Sakura chirped as she trotted back into her bedroom and closed the door behind her.

Naruto listened as Sakura rifled through her drawer of clothes and her closet before turning back to the third report he was going through.

Sakura didn't often like to don the armor of the Anbu, whether or not she was on duty, because she wasn't really part of that service. She had only taken that title to be able to protect him, but Anbu was nothing more to her. She took no missions Anbu related out of the village and had even refused to get any sort of codename on top of the non Anbu related ones including, "That pink haired bitch!" or whore… or what ever else the gossip mill had spurned up in her wake. Naruto usually took care of those rumors fast, Ino even faster, actually. He took in another deep sigh before scrawling over the report with his messy, but at least legible writing.

"You're handwriting is beginning to look less like mine."

Naruto shot up from his seat with his arms up in combat mode before turning around and coming face to face with Hatake Kakashi. "Don't do that!" Naruto shouted as he flopped back into his seat and put his hand over his heart as heavy pants came surging out of him.

Kakashi raised an eyebrow at the boy as Naruto tipped his head back still exaggerating his breathing, "Some Hokage you are." Naruto looked like the classic damsel in distress with the back of his hand swiping over his forehead to wipe off non-existent sweat.

"I'm the best Hokage ever!" Naruto snarled playfully as he looked back up at his sensei. "And how many times have I told you not to sneak up on me."

"Should I even be able to?"

"You're the only one who can," Naruto pouted. Even if every single one of his senses had upped in all this time, he still could not locate this shinobi for his life. Kakashi was still as mysterious and recluse as ever.

It was the only reason that he hadn't also been recruited to be part of the stalking squad. Naruto could never keep him around long enough when the topic came up and the copy nin was adamant in serving Konoha outside the gates instead of inside, something about 'making work home' he had said.

Naruto thought him insane, guarding him wasn't work; it was a whole entire load of freaking fun! Everyone had fun around the almighty and handsome Rokudaime! Naruto had quit asking a month or two into his reign, if the man wanted to join the freaking fun stalking squad now, let him grovel for the position.

"I'll take that as a compliment now that you can beat me in a fair match," Kakashi stated with his eyebrow still raised as he took the seat that was adjacent to the Rokudaime Hokage.

"I can take you in an unfair match too Kakashi," Naruto grinned. He had been forced to drop the 'sensei' when he had taken on the position of Rokudaime almost three years ago. It had taken him a while, but now he could slip out the name without the honorific.

Kakashi shook his head in mock exasperation before leaning back on the back two legs of his chair. He looked down the hallway towards the bedroom and waved at nothing. "Good morning Sakura!"

"Good morning Kakashi-senpai!" Sakura shouted back from her room as she pulled on her shirt and gathered her hair back to the base of her neck. She pulled her hitae-ate into place and smiled at herself in the mirror.

"Who was it this time?" Kakashi asked as he turned back to Naruto who was now routing through the forth mission report. Kakashi had propped his feet up on the table to stabilize himself and had his hands crossed behind his head.

"Inuzuka Kiba," Naruto scoffed as he reached out for his fifth mission report. He was getting into the mode and soon enough all of his mission reports would be done within Naruto record time.

"My dogs smell better than he does."

"I know right?"

"Are you insulting my choice in scents again?" Sakura asked as she leaned against her doorframe with a smile on her face, "Pakkun better smell better than Kiba, he uses the same shampoo as I do after all."

"You still use that shampoo?" Kakashi asked with a snort. He knew of course, he could smell it on her, but he had thought that she had some womanly pride left in her to at least not admit it.

"It's a good shampoo that smells heavenly," Sakura muttered darkly before smiling radiantly. She shook her head and walked back into the kitchen and peaked into the giant pot.

"Just because you don't have a keen sense of smell," Kakashi stated while tapping his nose.

Sakura rolled her eyes and smiled, "That's where Naruto got it from." Kakashi looked over as Naruto who just rubbed the back of his neck sheepishly, "That too."

Kakashi laughed and rubbed the back of his neck, "So how is little Sakura-chan this morning?"

"Apparently I smell like dog."

"You don't smell like dog anymore Sakura-chan," Naruto grinned as he threw another finished report onto the pile.

"No, you just smell like Pakkun," Kakashi teased.

Sakura gave him a sour expression as she deemed the water hot enough to begin Naruto's breakfast. "Do you want breakfast Kakashi?"

"Yes ple…"

"Well I'm not giving you any."

"That's mean Sakura-chan."

"Don't play that card on me, only Naruto can pull that card on me."

Naruto grinned at Kakashi momentarily as the older man gave Naruto a mock glare, "Spare an old man from an empty stomach."

Sakura suddenly turned on him with wide eyes. She looked hilarious with her wooden spoon pointed at him like a katana, but he was never going to tell her she looked like a 'terrifying' housewife… or else she's truly become terrifying, "You ARE old!"

Kakashi blinked, "That was kind of mean."

Sakura shook her head, "No, no, I mean that you're turning forty soon!"

Kakashi sighed, "Don't remind me."

Sakura just giggled and rolled her eyes. "Eggs and bacon?"

"Yes please," Kakashi replied as he took his feet off of the dining table and peaked over Naruto's shoulder, "Ah, that looks more like my writing." Naruto grunted and threw two more files into the 'finished' pile. Thoughts on _him_ were invading his mind again and he had to get them out. Sometimes, no all the time, he wished that Kakashi's now almost natural smell didn't personify those thoughts even more but the man couldn't help it just like Naruto couldn't help but throw five more mission reports into the 'finished' pile and Sakura couldn't help but be "that pink haired whore".

A smack was placed over Kakashi's head and although it was lighter than it would have been to anyone else, Kakashi had to never admit, that it still hurt. "Don't turn him into you. We need a good, hard working, punctual Hokage."

Naruto sighed in relief, he didn't hate his former sensei, the total opposite actually, but he couldn't stand that smell any longer. His hand was cramping already and he feared that Sakura would punch him if he broke her pen… again.

"Hey I was a candidate!"

"Last resort, desperate times call for desperate measures."

"When did you become so mean, Sakura-chan."

Another hit over the head, "I said not to play that card with me."

"So mean."

Sakura just rolled her eyes again with her hands on her hip, "Give me your head."

"Why Sakura…"

Sakura snatched his head and held his neck with her arm and torso as the two front legs of his seat hit the floor with a loud bang. Kakashi flailed his arms pathetically before giving up and slumping into her hold. "I hate that you've become so strong…"

"How bad is it? I saw Naruto wrinkle his nose," Kakashi threw Naruto a dirty look as Naruto gave him a weak apologetic smile.

"All the lights are a bit brighter than usual and you are obtusely loud."

"I'm always obtusely loud," Sakura muttered softly as her other hand began to glow green. She passed it over his forehead while brushing his messy bangs out of his face and he relaxed a whole deal more than he had been before. "Is that better now?"

"Yes."

"We know you do it Kakashi, no use in hiding it," Sakura muttered softly as she released him and walked into the kitchen to retrieve all of the wonders that she had cooked. Kakashi looked up from his position and frowned slightly as Sakura slowly walked back with a slow and heart broken sway of her hips. "I'd rather at least calm your hangovers and fix your liver if I can't stop you."

"You're one to talk."

"Just don't Kakashi," Naruto muttered as he finished off his pile while not partaking in the conversation. He had gone through a mini record of thirty reports in the time before breakfast. He was finally done for the morning and that was a good thing never mind the forty before the useless pen and the male friend in his best female friend's bed. He raised his blue eyes to look into the lone gray eye of his former sensei. Kakashi shook his head in remorse as Sakura sat herself down at the table with a small, weak and Sai-like smile. "We all have our own vices."

Kakashi turned back to his food and pulled down his alcohol-ridden mask, Sakura picked up her fork shakily as she rubbed her thighs together and Naruto tossed his mass amounts of mission reports on the floor. "Itadakimasu."


	2. Drinks for the Drowning

Premise: Team 7 all dealt with Sasuke's betrayal and death in different ways. Naruto became Konoha's best and somehow hardest working Hokage, Kakashi nurses a drink every night at the bar and Sakura has resorted to breaking other peoples hearts.

Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto.

Author's Note: So before I said this was mainly about Team 7... well it still mainly is but a lot of the Konoha ... err remaining 11 will be pulled into this as well, not to mention characters that were also otherwise deeply involved in the issue of Sasuke. It was something that just happened and it worked... so yup! Still having fun writing through this though right now I'm at a transition block O-o, I'll get over it eventually.

Look up the curse of knowledge... its fantastic... also if this story ever seems to need a rating boost, please tell me...

* * *

Chapter Two: Drinks for the Drowning

Kakashi waved two fingers into the air with a weary sigh and within moments another bottle of sake was placed in front of him with an audible thump. The empty one was whisked away with an equally loud clatter and Kakashi winced at all the noise the man was making. He couldn't complain though, this was already his fifth bottle and this bartender was one of the only ones that would even allow him to drink so much in one night before demanding him to get going home. Home usually meant the next bar down the street on nights like this one.

The bartender shook his head at the copy nin before walking away to attend to a different customer. He had learned long ago that Hatake Kakashi was not a talker and didn't ever want to become one and therefore sticking around to help the obviously inebriated and broken man come to a better realization about life was just not worth it. Even if the bartender did get Hatake Kakashi to talk, he scoffed at that idea, everyone knew that Kakashi was too much of a broken man for just any one person to handle. Plus Kakashi was now one of his best customers, the bartender didn't know if it was worth it to help the man when it came to profit. He didn't ever voice the thought though. He knew there were people out there who would kill him for just thinking something so sinister, but money was money and apparently Hatake Kakashi had lots of it.

Kakashi looked up at the thoughtful bartender darkly as he poured his sake into the small dish before him and drowned the contents quickly, allowing no one in the establishment to see his face. He thought he would stop coming to this place so often if the bartender didn't fully appreciate his consumerism, but he had thought this many times and his trips never lessened. Although a walk down the street wasn't that much of an effort, it was still effort that Kakashi really didn't want to expend. Placing the dish back down with a clatter the copy nin let out another sigh as he poured more sake into his dish.

Tonight was another one of those nights, the nights that brought upon memories of a boy that he wished that he could just have forgotten. But he couldn't forget the little Uchiha's face, just as much as he couldn't forget the face of his late best friend or the girl that had given him the Sharingan now implanted into his eye socket. Tonight was special, or at least that was what Kakashi wanted to convince himself of. Tonight was the night where almost fourteen years previous, he had heard about Sasuke's dreams and had thought little of them. What was a twelve-year-old genin to do with a grudge against the greatest shinobi that Konoha had ever produced? What did it matter to him? The three little children would have been out of his sight within a day's time anyways.

But they had passed the bell test and it _had_ become something to him. He had thought too little of it, had drawn too many parallels between himself and the little brat and had fallen to the curse of knowledge. He had forgotten what it had been like before the death of Obito and had treated Sasuke as though the boy would be someday saved, just like he had.

Kakashi finished off his bottle of sake with a groan and wiped his lips with the back of his hand.

Sasuke hadn't.

Kakashi didn't care that others could probably see under his mask. They always did when he got this far in his drinking. It just never really occurred to him until he was already drowning, but that was okay, most of the people that were here probably were too drunk to remember anyways.

Kakashi raised two fingers and waved at the bartender. The man looked over at the copy nin with a raised eyebrow before shaking his head and turning away. Kakashi frowned before his vision blurred and he blacked out.

Sakura stood up from the seat in the corner of the bar, giving Genma an apologetic smile, "You'll wait for me?"

The jounin smiled back, "I'll wait for as long as you need. That's my man out there, get him home."

"Thank you Genma."

The senbon wielder nodded as he grinded his teeth against the warm metal in his mouth. He watched as the pink haired girl's hips swayed as she walked away from him and towards the blacked out copy nin. The man shook his head and turned so that he could stare out of the window. He never really understood what it was about Team 7, but Sakura and Naruto were the only ones that could bring Kakashi home during nights like this. Usually the man could make it inside his door without passing out, but when he couldn't, one of the two teammates would be nearby enough to make sure that he eventually did. What spooked Genma the most though, was that the two little, not so little, former students of his best friend seemed to always preemptively know when those nights would be.

Genma sighed as he looked back at the scene at the bar stool as Sakura hefted the probably now very light man over her shoulders while slipping the man's wallet back into his jonin vest. It was obvious that Kakashi hadn't been eating as much as he had used to, but all of Team 7 was like that. Plus Sakura had her crazy super strength; thin Kakashi or not, Sakura could always take care of him or chuck him over the village walls.

Genma smiled a small smile, but it was a good thing that his students always did this for him, because no one else could. Genma had tried once and so had everyone else at one point or another, to bring the copy nin home. Even unconscious and totally inebriated, the man had a good right hook… and a jutsu or two.

He watched Sakura walk out the door and once again give him a small smile; he nodded in response and watched as she dragged Kakashi out onto the street and back towards the closest apartment. He would never understand Team 7, but he never wanted to. In order to understand the broken team, you would have to be a part of the broken team and everyone knew that the trade off wouldn't have been worth it.

Genma stood up from his seat and stretched his hands into the air. He laid down the cash that he knew he owed and walked out of the bar with his hands in his pockets. Sakura wouldn't be back tonight, but he'd catch her another night. Although others would tell him that he was a horrible man for taking advantage of a girl in that state, he knew two things that others that weren't directly connected to the drowning team didn't.

Sakura couldn't be taken advantage of and that it was better him than some sleaze ball off the street. Excuses, excuses, excuses.

He had done what he had told himself he would never do. He had jumped to the other side. He chuckled as he ran his hands though his brown hair, 'Looks like I can't say anything snotty to that Inuzuka kid now.'

~D~

Naruto opened his apartment door with a sigh. He turned around and grinned into the darkness of the night with a large wave of his hands. He could smell Sakura, she was home… the rest of his stalking squad could get lost already, plus he didn't want them to see her beat him into a bloody pulp for coming home so late. He flicked on the light and closed the door. The five presences in the distance disappeared and Naruto blinked at the clock. 'Yah, Sakura-chan's gonna kill me.'

"Welcome _home_ Naruto."

"I'm home, why are you still awake?" Naruto rubbed the back of his neck as he stared at his best friend's thrumming fingers. He laughed nervously as he continued to see her fingers twitch.

"So that I can wring your neck," Sakura replied as she leaned against the wall beside her door with her arms and her ankles crossed. A smirk was on her face as her green eyes shined. She was dressed in a simple sleeping gown made of white sheer silk.

Naruto chuckled, "Oh, that's so _sweet_ of you Sakura-chan."

Sakura laughed back as she pushed herself off the wall and walked towards the kitchen, "You didn't have anything to eat since I left, have you?"

"Well…" she gave him a knowing glare, "No."

"Too bad I can't train your Anbu squad to nag."

"I think you do enough nagging for all of Anbu."

"Hm," Sakura replied as she pulled out a large pot and once again began boiling an atrocious volume of water, "So what did you do to keep yourself out so late?"

"I was reviewing some of the mission reports from before I became Hokage. Get to know the dynamic of what went on before my supreme reign and all," Naruto replied as he flopped down on his chair at the dinning room table. "What's up with your special guest tonight?"

Sakura laughed, "Not like that."

"The smell says so and god I wasn't thinking that at all. I wouldn't have let you go in exchange for four dimwits if you had been planning to go hunt down some sob story guy. He was that bad huh?"

"I couldn't bring him all the way back home. The smell was bothering me too much and the impulse to heal his liver was just too high."

"The smell was even bothering you huh?"

Sakura turned around and leaned against the counter, "It often does on nights like this." Her eyes clouded as she looked up to the ceiling, reliving some distance memories of some much simpler times. She rolled a long lock of pink hair between her fingers.

Naruto shrugged, "True. Is he going to be sleeping in your bed all night then?"

"I couldn't just throw him on the couch."

"Like always. I'll go grab the extra pillow and put it on my bed right now so that when you finally decide to collapse on it..."

"You hate it when I steal yours," Sakura snickered as Naruto stood up and finally shrugged off his long, white Hokage coat.

Naruto grinned, "Not so much. You actually smell okay when you have to sleep on my bed with me," Sakura stuck her tongue out at him, "But you drool on it so…"

"I do not drool!" Sakura huffed indignantly.

"Course not," Naruto chuckled as he walked down the hall. He peaked into Sakura's room to find Kakashi underneath her comforter sleeping the night away with light snores. His mask lay on the nightstand beside him and most of his clothes were folded on her chair. "Did you give him a sponge bath or something?"

"I was not joking when I said he smelled," Sakura replied.

"You're a pervert."

Sakura wrinkled her nose, "Oh stop it Naruto, just because Kakashi-senpai is still hot despite almost hitting forty."

Naruto opened the linen closet; "I'm going to ignore the fact that you have just called Kakashi hot, once again."

Sakura shrugged, "Meh. It's the Pig's fault. She mentioned it; I noticed it. It's not like he's ever going to become one of my guys anyways. This is Kakashi-senpai we're talking about here. He likes his alcohol and I like my men not... just not..." She turned off the stove and carried the steaming bowls of ramen to the dinner table.

"I don't know how I feel about the idea of Kakashi becoming one of your men," Naruto replied as he walked into his bedroom and threw the pillow onto his bed. It was probably his most favorite pillow in the house. The fabric was saturated purely with just Sakura's scent and no one else's. He kept it that way because sometimes he missed his friend when she was away on long missions and the need to just smell her instead of about five other guys or laundry detergent was always high on his list when the stalker squad was being just plain creepy. He stripped his shirt off and began changing into his nightclothes.

"He's already one of my boys."

"But that's totally different."

"Agreed, it's like how your one of my boys, but I'll die before you become one of my men."

"Should I feel insulted?"

"No you should feel treasured."

"I feel treasured every day I'm sitting in that office and you're watching over me."

"Good, then my work here is done." Naruto returned just moments later only dressed in a loose pair of sweat pants.

"Six bowls?"

"One of them is mine."

"You know me too well."

"Well you didn't eat, you silly boy," Sakura replied as she tapped her chopsticks on the tip of his nose. Naruto wrinkled his nose on impulse and because it had hurt, "That was for coming home to late."

"You're mastering the delayed attack tactic."

Sakura laughed as he dug into his food. "Don't overwork yourself too much okay?"

"I'll try."

"You always try."

"That's all that any of us can do."

~D~

When Kakashi woke up, he knew immediately that he wasn't in his own room. The sun wasn't slanted right, the air smelled too fresh and the walls were much too bright. He also knew immediately just whose room he was in. He blinked as the light cascaded down between Sakura's blinds and seared into his retinas. "I wonder when Sakura's going to perfect the art of stopping hangovers before they happen," Kakashi muttered as he threw the comforter off of his decidedly undressed body. He swung his feet off of the mattress and rested his head in the palm of his hands as the searing headache continued to pound at his temples. He wondered how long Sakura was going to let him suffer before taking it away.

Every other morning or so Kakashi would wonder why he had taken up something as silly as alcohol. He hated the way the smell burned his nose, but he hated the smell of cigarettes even more, so that was why he hadn't become a chain smoker like Asuma had once been. That probably in of itself was also a reason. Smoking would only have brought in more memories to drown in, something that he definitely did not need.

Gambling had always been an option too, but he had feeling that winning everything wasn't going to have the same effect as constantly losing like it did for the Godaime and Kakashi knew that he would win… the Sharginan did that sometimes.

He didn't do the overworking thing because that would have meant having to challenge Naruto on a daily basis and that was more effort than it was worth and taking the Sakura route… well he thought that that route definitely fit the girl pertaining to this situation more than it did to him. Also he had been there and done that. So he was left with the alcohol, the drowning memories and the constant burning in his head. At least it personified just how much pain his memories brought him night after night.

Kakashi stood up and picked up his freshly laundered clothes. Sakura had washed everything the night before and by everything, he knew that she had washed everything. It was almost routine for him now. The first time had been a huge shock, after all it wasn't everyday that your female former student undressed and bathed you while you were decidedly unable to object, but it was Sakura and he could trust her with his life and he had, on multiple occasions. Kakashi pulled the mask over his face as he stretched his arms above his head and trotted out of her room and into the hall. It was early in the morning, the sunlight always bathed Sakura's room before it did Naruto's and that was a good thing for Kakashi. It was one of the reason's he probably allowed himself to continue spending the night over at his former students' home.

He walked down the hall to where he could hear his two teammates snoozing and leaned on the doorframe with his arms crossed. Nights that bad were well worth the pain to the old man if it meant having mornings like this. He smiled gently as the sun began to slant across his two teammates. Naruto was the one that was on the inside, his right arm slung innocently and affectionately across Sakura's waist as he nestled his nose into her long hair. Sakura was drooling with one hand clutching onto Naruto's and the other tucked beneath her head. Their legs were slightly tangled together and the blanket was draped over them both although it had looked like Sakura had tried to hog it at one point during the night.

Although Kakashi knew that there was nothing but platonic feelings going on between the two, he couldn't help but think what would have been different between Naruto and Sakura if things had played out differently; he couldn't help but think that if he ever were to love someone, the position they were in would have been the best way to wake up.

But he did love his two teammates, though not precisely to the state where he would enjoy waking up in the same bed as them. But to see them still together and not so broken was like a gulp of fresh air to his drowning lungs, because there were times when they were all not so broken and therefore he was not so broken as well.

Kakashi stood and watched as eyelids began to flutter and suddenly he could see both green and blue shining brilliantly in the morning sun. It was the shine of life that in the past he had taken for granted in the eyes of all those he had cared about, "Good morning Kakashi-senpai."

"Morning Kakashi."

"Morning you two."


	3. Home for the Heartache

Premise: Team 7 all dealt with Sasuke's betrayal and death in different ways. Naruto became Konoha's best and somehow hardest working Hokage, Kakashi nurses a drink every night at the bar and Sakura has resorted to breaking other peoples hearts.

Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto.

* * *

Chapter Three: Home for the Heartache

Sometimes Tenten didn't know who to be more disgusted at, Lee or Sakura. At the moment she probably was more ashamed of her teammate then she was of the pink haired girl because at least the love of her life was sitting beside her, being just annoyed as she was at the young man in the green spandex suit and the pink haired girl's famous love wasn't and never would be.

When Tenten was alone, her ire was usually more directed at the pink haired girl because emotions and her protective instinct towards her best friend usually overrode absolutely everything.

That, and when Neji was with her, logic always took priority in her brain, because if it didn't she wouldn't have been able to survive being around Neji for long periods of time before whacking him over the head. Logic told her not to be angry at Haruno Sakura just as logic was the only thing that kept her grounded to the fact that Neji would never totally let go of the fact that he was a stoic bastard, though a cute and oddly affectionate bastard, a bastard none the less. Although at least he was less bastardly now that he had let go of his fate issue.

Being emotional around Neji also meant that she would go all glompy on him and she knew he appreciated it only while they were in private.

Oh right, and although protective instinct usually overrode everything else, Neji always overrode even that. It was disgusting and she was angry at herself but Tenten could help it. She was smitten.

Logic right now brought her into the past and to how Haruno Sakura had become the way that she was. Tenten winced and reasoned that she wouldn't have taken Sakura's particular route if such circumstances had put her into the same position, but impaling every man who met her eye would have probably been even worse. Logic told her that Sakura wasn't like the _average_ whore in that she never, ever, targeted a taken man, like Neji, Shikamaru and Shino, and didn't even try to convince those that were just not interested, like Chouji. Problem was that not many were just not interested, case and point being Lee who was still in love with an obviously broken woman.

"Do you think she _tries_ to break his heart every time?" Tenten whispered as she turned to Neji and finally took her eyes off of the spectacle that was in front of her. She had no idea why she was compelled to watch the beginning of every end although it happened at least twice a month.

"I don't think she realizes that, that is what she actually gets from all these nights," Neji replied as he wrapped his arm around her shoulder and leaned back as though that action was the most natural thing in the whole entire world. Tenten knew for a fact that Neji doing so looked ridiculous, but she would never tell him that. Plus if he knew that he looked ridiculous and did it anyways, she would love him all the more for it.

"Think Lee will ever realize and let her go."

"I think you are giving too little credit to him."

Tenten sighed, "I know he knows too."

Neji nodded, "He does."

"Why do you think…?"

"He loves her, he would do anything for her even if it means breaking his own heart over and over again just to make her happy for one morning."

Tenten squealed inwardly, scolded herself for being smitten yet again and squealed… again. The implication that Neji would do the same for her was there. The truth that Lee was doing exactly that for Sakura was there as well. "Love sucks." Neji peered down at her with a raised eyebrow. "Okay fine, love doesn't _always_ suck."

"Good. I know that I didn't do anything wrong."

"You're being pompous."

"I'm being factual."

Tenten giggled and shifted so that she was pressed closer to his side. He shifted to accommodate her but moved no more than that. The shifting was enough to convince Tenten of the fact that the love of her life returned her affections and that made her five hundred times luckier than the pink haired girl who could get nearly any guy she wanted except those that were already dead. It was just too sad that the one she wanted was exactly that.

"So my lovely Sakura-san, would you like to have dinner with me tonight? I shall cook you a spectacular meal with all my love poured in with the sauces and sprinkled on the…"

Sakura smiled softly. "How about you just come over to my place tonight Lee-san?"

Lee's face fell slightly, "Would you still like dinner?"

Sakura giggled and touched his arm _almost_ affectionately, "I think that would be nice.

Lee's face brightened up again, "Then I shall leave no pan unturned and no ingredient untouched in order to make you…"

"And Naruto…"

"And Hokage-sama… Hokage-sama?"

"If you're going to bring me dinner, you're also going to have to feed Naruto," Sakura replied flawlessly as she watched Lee's face drop again. Sometimes she felt bad that she did this, but the terrible, _wanting_, much bigger part of her mind always told her that she wouldn't… no… that she couldn't hurt anyone as much as Sasuke-kun had hurt her and that was all the justification that she needed.

"Then I shall bring enough for the lovely Sakura-san, the esteemed Hokage-sama and for myself."

"You may also have to feed Kakashi-senpai."

Lee's face fell again, but only ever so slightly, "And for my sensei's greatest rival."

Sakura smiled brightly, "Thank you Lee-san."

Lee positively beamed at her smile and his stance visibly relaxed as he leaned forward and brushed a stray lock of hair back behind Sakura's ear. "I shall be there tonight."

"Okay."

The man seemed a little bit nervous, "Will the esteemed Hokage-sama and copy nin be present…?"

Sakura laughed, "No, Naruto will probably stay late again and Kakashi-senpai usually only shows up in the mornings."

"Okay. Until tonight Sakura-san."

Sakura grinned, "Until tonight Lee-san."

Sakura backed away from the man with her bags of fruits and trotted back to her original destination, the Hokage Tower. She was going to feed Naruto healthy things even if it killed her.

However, before she could leave from sight, she caught onto the stares of Tenten and Neji. Sakura paused mid step and threw back a small, sad smile to the weapons mistress. It was an apology that she gave every single time although it didn't mean by any means that she was going to stop, not unless Lee wanted her too. Tenten nodded back to her and Sakura left relieved that Tenten hadn't attacked her this day for what she was doing.

Tenten was one of the many that were a little bit on and off about Sakura's actions. Sakura knew there were three categories of people, one being those like Tenten, the second being those that understood and the third being those that hated every single part of her.

Anyone that had ever known her never fell into the third category. That one was mainly for the female civilians that were either too young to know, too disconnected to understand or much too bitter about their own unrequited love that they were just looking at anything to blame. Even if that category was unappealing and practically worthless, the looks and whispers from those people still hurt.

The first category was the most abundant in the people that she actually personally knew. Many understood why she did the things she did but still did not always approve. They just didn't totally understand or even if they thought they did… they just simply didn't. No one could actually understand Team 7 unless they had been a part of Team 7. This category included many of the males that she did and did not 'date' and a whole whack of the ninja population. Their stares ranged to all sorts of places from pity, which Sakura hated even more than condescending, which was another abundant stare, all the way to momentary but genuine understanding.

The second category was the category that kept Sakura grounded to the present instead of to the past. It was the one that contained the least, but the most important people to her. There was, of course, the original Team 7, Naruto and Kakashi-senpai, her best friend the Pig, who had been by her side through thick and thin, Sai, who she wasn't too sure was actually in this category or the one before, but she never did want to question his absolute loyalty when he made it so absolutely obvious, Yamato who like was like Sai and possibly even Hyuuga Hinata.

Sakura frowned at the mention of the quiet girl who had loved Naruto as much as she had loved Sasuke-kun, and had lost him to the forces that were so beyond her control that Sakura sometimes thought that Hinata had it worse then she did. The difference between them was that Naruto was still alive and now untouchable; Sasuke was dead, although he too had _always_ been untouchable.

Sakura stopped for a moment as she wiped at her eyes and willed herself not to tear up at the thought. It had been years and she still hadn't been able to get herself around that fact. The man that she had loved more than heaven and earth was six feet under foreign soil. _Foreign_ soil.

One tear slid down her cheek and then another. Sakura willed herself to stop before the stares started and the whispers began to echo. Tears from her didn't elicit pity from the general consensus of those that hated her guts, tears from her meant victory and happiness to them. She wouldn't let them have it.

Back to Hinata. The girl had tried so hard after that faithful battle but in the end nothing could get through to Naruto and still couldn't even now, years later… not that kind of love, no matter how strong. Sakura willed herself not to cry again. How could it be that love like that, like Hinata for Naruto or Sakura for Sasuke was not enough?

Hinata had backed off for one reason or another, not that she ever really charged head forward anyways, and had settled with Shino. It was something like a truce where they would love each other while knowing that they would never really ever _love_ each other, well at least on Hinata's end. Sakura knew that the Hyuuga heiress was still in love with Naruto every bit as much as she had been in love with him years ago. Sakura didn't totally understand the dynamics of Team 10 and that particular relationship, but they had their own ways of dealing and she accepted that just like Hinata had accepted the fact that Naruto was just too broken to return her love… anyone's love.

And because Hinata had accepted the fact that Naruto was a broken creature, she had also accepted that Sakura was one too, hence why Hinata fell into the third category.

Sakura thought that it was amorous considering that one of the men that she constantly push and pulled was Inuzuka Kiba, the girl's beloved teammate. Hinata's love for Naruto truly had been all encompassing, so vast and pure and although Sakura knew little about it, also so very, very tragic.

Sakura could hear the whispers stirring ever so slightly. Someone had seen one of her tears. She marched forward, pretending that she couldn't hear anything at all. "Hey, isn't that the Godaime's apprentice?"

"Can't believe that's she's willing to show her face out in public. Thought that she'd be rolling between the sheets or something."

"Shut up, she's one of the best shinobi that we have in the village despite her being a total whore."

Those that even tried to stand up for her were still every bit as annoying and arrogant as those that didn't even have a bone in their body to even try. Sakura's resisted the urge to scowl at them as she held her head up high. The first girl had, had a crush on Genma, the second on Ebisu and the third on Lee. That probably explained it, everyone knew that Lee openly loved Sakura and didn't really prefer anyone that spoke against her. "Stuck up bitches," Sakura murmured as she grinded her teeth together and flipped her long pink hair over her shoulder.

"Forehead!"

The whispering instantly stopped and Sakura couldn't help but shake her head and grin. Unlike her, Ino had no reservations about cat fighting and subsequently destroying civilians. "Pig!"

"Are you trying again?"

"I'll get through his thick skull eventually," Sakura replied as Ino came up to stand by her side. Sakura smiled slightly as she watched Ino give all those who had been whispering the scariest glare that she could manage. That glare could even send Gaara screaming, so really… it was overkill.

"Well, do you have time for a quick coffee or something or will Naruto-sama die without you?"

"He might," Sakura grinned and held up her shopping bags, "I told him I was getting ramen so he's getting all hungry right now."

Ino laughed and took one of the shopping bags out of Sakura's hands. "I'll walk with you to the Hokage Tower then." It was a small, but sweet gesture.

"Thanks Pig. So where's everyone else today?"

"Shika and Chouji?"

"Who else?"

Ino laughed, "I'm supposed to be meeting up with Shika anytime now to take the little girl off of Chouji's hands."

"Chouji really is a kid person isn't he?"

Ino laughed, "Yah, sometimes I forget the fact that Asuma-sensei had actually left his daughter to Shikamaru."

"Cute girl though. Kurenai-senpai must be so proud."

"Chouji's over feeding her."

Sakura laughed and nodded, "Of course he is. How is the academy going for her?"

"She's talented just like her mom and dad, though I'm starting to fear that she's been sleeping in class…"

"Bound to happen eventually," Sakura murmured and tapped her chin.

Ino clenched her free fist and brought it up dramatically in a sweeping display, "I refuse to let it continue."

"Isn't it one of the defining features of your Shikmaru?"

Sakura watched as Ino's face still lit up even after all these years when Sakura put a possession on the man's name. " I… I don't love _everything_ about him."

"Yes you do," Sakura grinned, "You love every single thing about him, including all of the things you hate."

"You know what? I hate _you_, Forehead."

"I know you love me."

Ino scoffed before she smiled again, "So how's it going?"

"Same old," Sakura replied, "Same as yesterday, nothing changes in just one day Pig."

Ino shrugged and glanced at Sakura, "Sometimes it does."

"Maybe, but not now not anymore."

They had arrived at the Hokage Tower and Ino dropped her bag back onto Sakura's arm, "Take care Forehead."

"Thanks Pig."

And Sakura watched Ino run off and wondered about everything that had ever happened between them. Ino had loved Sasuke-kun too, but she had been able to let him go. Sakura had felt so god damn happy the day that she had been put onto Team 7 with Sasuke-kun. So happy that she had finally beaten the Pig. It was cosmic irony to its greatest. Ino had been able to find the actual love of her life because she hadn't gotten Sasuke-kun as a child and had been able to move on. Sakura had gotten the boy at the moment but in the long run she had to lose him in the worst ways as well. Fate was cruel like that.

Ino knew it too. And that was why Ino was one of the people who truly understood despite not having ever been on Team 7 or Team Kakashi. She understood because if things had played out only a little bit differently, it would have been the blond sleeping with the village.

Sakura sighed as she picked up some of the whispers again now that Ino was gone. Sakura turned around and pushed open the large door to the Hokage Tower.

Maybe she had another love of her life as well, it was just that she was just like Naruto. She was too broken to let someone else in, but broken in a way that although she was aware, unlike her best friend, she didn't even want to.

Because… the first still hurt every bit as much as it had at the beginning and Sakura didn't want more heartache. She was determined to keep her first broken heart her last and if it meant breaking others… then so be it.

* * *

Author's Note:

I'm not dead...

Sakura's story compared to Hinata's story... I intended Hinata's story to be the story that you would cry for because honestly I wanna cry just thinking about it although its the story that I made for her. But yerp... YAY the next chapter came out ^^;;

Critique is appreciated!


	4. Memories for the Missing

Premise: Team 7 all dealt with Sasuke's betrayal and death in different ways. Naruto became Konoha's best and somehow hardest working Hokage, Kakashi nurses a drink every night at the bar and Sakura has resorted to breaking other peoples hearts. KakaSaku

* * *

Chapter Four: Memories for the Missing

He would never admit it to anyone because he was sure Sakura would yell at him or even worse, give him _those_ eyes before she would take it all away from him just so that he wouldn't hurt anymore. But he couldn't help it, just like none of them could help it. Once in a while he bathed himself in the pain and it allowed him to breathe. Moments like this, moments when he was reading through these kinds of reports were like Kakashi's hangovers the morning after or Sakura's empty bed after a night between the sheets.

The only one who probably had a semblance of a clue of what was going through his head was probably Sai, and that was probably the weirdest part of it all. It was only probably because Sai was Sai that he had the ability to see like no other. It was a bonus though, that Sai didn't tend to understand. Naruto was just happy that the man was considerate enough not to talk. Or he would categorize it as consideration because it put his friend in a better light and Naruto always liked putting people in better lights than they sometimes deserved. He just wasn't sure if Sai was really one of those people who truly deserved it. So far it seemed like he was… more so than… but that was a whole different story all together.

Naruto scanned the file again and sighed. The artist looked up from his painting in response to the sound, looked down at the file, nodded and then went right back to where he had left off as though the Hokage hadn't just made a sound of complaint. Sakura's reaction had been even better; she hadn't even looked up from what she had been reading. She didn't need to, they had created a bond from their past that surpassed all others. It wasn't apathy that kept her from looking; it was from acceptance.

Naruto set the file down and reached for another one. When he sighed again the scariest female in the history of the Fire Country snatched the file out of his hand and whacked it over his head. "S-Sakura-chan… that was really mean…"

"If it sucks so much, stop looking at them," Sakura muttered as she whacked him over the head again, just for good measure, with said file before setting it back in his hands. The Hokage knew why his brain has screamed 'runnnnn' the moment the file had been wrestled out of his hands. 'Scary, scary Sakura who could make a mission folder into a dangerous blunt weapon.' Well any shinobi worth their name could, but only Sakura would attack a Hokage with something so ridiculous.

Naruto recovered from the sudden attack with a shake of his head and traced his fingers down the spine of the file. Sakura marched back over to her old spot on the couch beside Sai and continued to watch him paint, as was now her daily past time. Sai smiled at her in all his creepish glory and she smiled back at him. Naruto wouldn't say that it was creepy, although that was the exact word for it, but he also had the ability to connect with Sai, so that was beside the point. Calling Sai creepy would be just calling himself creepy and a whole lot of other adjectives that he didn't need associated with him.

Naruto grinned from his spot and flipped the file back open. He had lied many mornings, afternoons and nights ago when he had said constantly and insistently that he had hated the D-rank missions that he was looking over. They were actually his favorite in the most morbid way possible. If he had truly hated them he would have delegated them to some poor soul, because he was the Hokage and he could do that, but again, he didn't hate them. It was more of a love/hate relationship that he had with them, morbidity and all. Plus, he hadn't once delegated anything to anyone. Izumo and Kotetsu had been lost for the first couple of months Naruto had been in office. Sakura had taken care of that somehow, Naruto didn't have a clue how, but girls could always find something for guys to do no matter how menial.

As Naruto had noted before, D-rank missions _never_ changed. It had been thirteen years since he had first become a genin and all the missions were still exactly the same. A different pet gone missing, a different color for the fence, but in essence it was all still the same. This meant that instead of putting the three genin whose names were in the report in the place of the mission as he would imagine it progressing, he could put himself next to Sasuke and Sakura.

He lowered the report down to his lap and flipped the page. The genin team had been successful in painting the fence. Not like you could fail something like that anyways and that was what Naruto counted on every… single… time. The genin team had finished that D-rank mission just like Team 7 had and just reading these reports could fill his thoughts with everything that he had lost.

He looked up at Sakura who was motioning at Sai's painting with enthusiasm and laughing like there was no tomorrow. Everything _they_ had lost.

"Naruto, are you asleep?" Sakura questioned as she stared at him with her large green eyes.

The Rokudaime Hokage just grinned at her and shook his head, "No, but I feel like I'm going to." Lies of course, but she didn't need to know that over working didn't mean working to him, it meant living in the past that none of them could ever escape. It hurt so much to do that, but he feared that it would hurt even more if he were to ever let it go.

"I think you need to eat Dickless," Sai replied as he dipped his paintbrush into the black ink and moved his hand so fluidly over the paper that it was almost like he was painting on air. On occasion Sai actually did, but that was beside the point.

"Are you offering to pay for me?" Naruto grinned as he set the folder of memories down on his desk.

"No," Sai replied quickly knowing just how much money went into Ichiraku Ramen every week.

"Make use of the funds you threw away when you decided to live in the apartment," Sakura replied, "They'll feed you for at least a month."

Naruto chuckled, he'd have to eat a hundred bowls of ramen an hour for some money spending like that. "You know that money is going back to the restoration of the village." Sakura already knew of course, she had taken care of many of the contracts. Those didn't appeal to Naruto like mission reports did and it wasn't really delegation when she stole them right from under his nose anyways. She just liked to hear Naruto being responsible. Some changes, although the circumstances were less than desirable, had a positive outcome. It was one of the things that kept her grounded to the present, because if hell Naruto had been Hokage material in the past.

Sakura smiled brightly, "I know. Sai, stay here with Naruto, I'll go pick up the food."

"Yes, Ugly."

Sakura smacked him over the head the moment that his brush left the paper before walking out of the door. Sai shrugged and continued on with his painting with a smile tugging at his lips. She only ever hit him when his paintings weren't in danger, he only removed the brush from the paper when he was with her. Some people thought his understanding of affection was skewed but he loved his friends in his own way.

"It's almost like you like being hit by her or something."

"It's the same as you looking at those reports," Sai replied swiftly as his brush traced a high arc over the parchment. Not the same, but close enough. He was so monotonous that Naruto almost didn't catch the fact that Sai was being sentimental about something.

Naruto frowned, "It's not the same."

"It's the same for me," Sai replied before dipping his paintbrush again, "As those reports bring you back to a time before now, Ugly hitting me on the head brings me back to a time where she didn't look so sad and was constantly angry. Though I have no idea why it does so and why I want to be brought back to such a time."

"Right…" Naruto leaned back on his chair and observed Sai with crossed arms and a raised eyebrow, "You're suffering too."

"I have never been a part of Team 7."

Naruto frowned, "But you've always been a part of Team Kakashi."

"Yes, but it is not the same."

"You don't want it to be."

"I do not," Sai replied, "But sometimes when I look at you and Ugly, I feel the pain too."

Naruto smiled slightly, "You've become a really good guy Sai."

"Thank you Dickless."

Silence ensued before Naruto rustled through the pile of folders and pulled out another one from the stack. He opened it slowly and smiled at the picture of the frenzied kitten that belonged to the daughter of the same women who had employed him all those years ago. They looked similar enough for contemplation, so that was what Naruto did.

"Tell me about it Dickless."

Naruto looked up at the artist with a start, "What?"

"Tell me about the mission." Sai was staring at him unblinkingly with his look of discovery plastered all over his face.

"You want to know?" Naruto chuckled. Sai was still learning after all this time and it was pleasant that some things never changed.

"I…" Sai looked up and tapped his chin with the end of his paintbrush, "don't understand what I am feeling and because I don't understand what I am feeling, I don't know what I should do about it. So, instead of trying to understand how I feel, I want to know why I feel the way I do. Ugly burned a whole stack of my books anyhow. I don't know how she expects me to act 'correctly' if I no longer have my books. I need to go buy more later, but knowing 'why' this instant intrigues me."

"Is that so?" So that hadn't been a bonfire the other night… Naruto contemplated issuing a restriction against Sai to all of the bookstores just to complete Sakura's job well done. When had she been able to outsmart an ex-ROOT agent any way? That was a hopeless idea though, less creepy or not, Sai had been bred by ROOT. Restrictions wouldn't stop Sai from getting what he wanted even if Sakura could.

"Ugly isn't here right now, you don't have to worry about her. I'll stop you before she enters."

"I can sense her before you can," Naruto argued.

"Not when you're reading those. Now tell me," Sai demanded in his own emotionless and cheery way.

Naruto rolled his eyes before he peered at the words on the file. "The person who had hired us was named Madame Shijimi and she really loved this cat named Tora who hated her guts…"

Sai watched as Naruto immersed himself in his memories once again. It happened often, but usually Sai wasn't able to hear it himself. Usually he only gazed upon his friend as emotions flashed in Naruto's eyes and a story was told by the expressions on the Hokage's face, but now he was actually hearing it for himself and for some reason Sai's chest was burning.

He watched as his best friend nearly cried at the mention of the late Uchiha and laughed at how much he had adored Sakura and how much Sakura had in turn, adored Sasuke. Naruto chuckled even harder at how much Kakashi had hated all of them for being so ridiculously childish.

Sai registered the fact that the man in mention was standing outside of the Hokage's window, wishing to be detected by the artist rather than be apprehended when he was discovered, but Naruto was still too immersed in his story to even notice that his former sensei was sighing at the exact same heartfelt words as well. Sai's chest hurt again and he still really didn't understand why. He cursed Ugly for burning his books. They were _useful_ despite what anyone said. The books had been the ones to dictate him in giving out those splendid nicknames he called his comrades and now look, everyone accepted them happily and almost expectantly. "It took you that long to find a cat, Dickless?"

Naruto snapped his head back to Sai as the images of his past were broken apart by a sound that was in his present. Kakashi had seemed to drop out of his memories as well since the man was once again undetectable although Sai knew that he was still standing outside. Kakashi stood there often, it was his way of making sure that he wouldn't lose another one of them; from the window you could also see Ichiraku Ramen and the pink haired head that had been bobbing along on the street.

"Tora's a very hard cat to find."

"It's a feline, you are a ninja."

"Just because I was once an idiot."

"You," Sai gave him a smile, "Are still an idiot." The pain in his chest released as he saw the awkward happiness that sparkled in Naruto's eyes. Naruto never looked right unless he was happy. Naruto hadn't been looking right for the past few years.

Naruto's face scrunched up all funny, just the way that Sai remembered it from his own past and he felt something like relief flood into his veins. Although Sai had wanted to know why he was feeling the way he was because of the people that he cared about more than anything, including his art, he had felt as though Naruto and Sakura were slipping away from him once again. It happened often and it unnerved him unlike any battle with death. "I am not an idiot. I am the Rokudaime Hokage, show me some respect!"

"Oh, quiet down Naruto, you're going to wake up the heads of the former Hokage with how loud you're being," Sakura chirped as she kicked open the office door while carrying a stack of steaming bowls of ramen in her hands. The fact that Sakura could carry nearly ten bowls of ramen without letting them drop was the only reason she was always on food duty.

"But Sakura-chan, Sai was being…"

"Sai?"

Naruto pouted, "Yes."

"Shocking, really," Sakura giggled as she set the bowls down on the desk and handed one to Sai, "I got you your favorite."

"Thank you Ugly." Sai hadn't known when he had chosen a favorite flavor of ramen, but after the first time Sakura had told him that she had gotten his 'favorite' he had tried every other flavor and had found that he had indeed enjoyed the flavor that she had chosen the most.

"Kakashi-senpai, I have some for you too. You don't have to worry about paying the bill!"

Naruto blinked, "Kakashi's here?"

Sakura grinned, "I saw him while I was walking back."

"Uh…" Naruto muttered as he looked around the room where he swore there were only three people present including himself.

"Outside the window you idiot," Sakura muttered and rolled her eyes, but she couldn't blame her best friend, no one could find Kakashi when he truly didn't want to be found.

"Uh… Hi Kakashi?" Naruto still couldn't sense him and he scrunched up his nose at the idea that the Rokudaime still couldn't find the old copy nin.

The silver haired man pushed open the window with an eye crease. "Yo."

"Get your ramen before it's cold," Sakura chirped as she handed him a bowl and a pair of disposable chopsticks.

"Thank you Sakura," Kakashi replied and took his spot in a chair that sat beside the couch. His spot.

Sakura organized the remaining seven bowls in the way Naruto liked them on his desk and grinned at the man, "Eat."

"Thank you Sakura-chan," Naruto beamed as he watched Sakura take her own bowl from the pile and a pair of chopstick. Before she had the chance to walk away her eyes glided over the desk and came face to face with a folder.

Sakura blinked slowly as her hand reached out to turn the folder so that the content faced her. Naruto's eyes widened as Sakura's eyes canned the page. "Is this… Is this Madame Shijimi's daughter?"

"Uh yah…"

"It runs in the family then," Sakura murmured as she turned away from the picture of the cat with the pink bow that was held in the arms of a plump looking child and walked to the spot that had been left for her on the couch next to Sai and beside Kakashi. Sai blinked at her oddly as she leaned back and snapped the cover off of the bowl. "You know… that brings back a lot of memories."

"Yah," Naruto replied as he sighed with relief, knowing that she hadn't caught on to the fact that, that was why he always took the time to read through the D-rank mission reports until it was two in the morning.

"We were such kids back then," Sakura murmured.

"I was a grown man," Kakashi replied as he pulled his mask down and shoved noodles into his mouth.

"You're still not a grown man Kakashi-senpai," Sakura teased, "You're just old."

"That's mean Sakura-chan."

"Oh, don't go pulling that again."

"She's right Kakashi!"

"Not you too Naruto."

"Forty, forty!"

"You used to respect me."

"Nope, never."

Sakura smiled, "I wonder what ever happened to Tora."

"Probably happy to be six feet under," Kakashi replied with a scoff. He didn't like cats; he was a dog person.

Sai ate from his bowl of ramen as the talk once again reverted back to the days of Team 7. His heart clenched as the noodles slid down his throat and his favorite flavor didn't light up anything like it usually did. He had never completed a D rank mission in his life. Since he could remember, ROOT and then Anbu was all that he was a part of, that and Team Kakashi. He couldn't relate to their conversation, couldn't put himself in that place or even talk about a stupid cat with an even stupider pink bow.

"No, that was not the funniest thing ever," Sakura challenged.

"What could have been funnier than that?"

Sakura grinned, "Meeting Sai for the first time."

Naruto blinked, "You're right."

"I wasn't there for that," Kakashi mumbled.

"We all met him at different times, didn't we Sai?" Sakura smiled.

Sai looked up at her green eyes and watched as they sparkled in earnest. She hadn't even tried to turn the conversation to a place where he was more comfortable; she hadn't even tried to give him a favorite something and she had. The ramen in his hands suddenly tasted a whole lot better.

They all had changed him; these people were the people that had changed him for the better, had given him the chance that he now held dear to his heart. "You were ugly from the moment I saw you," Sai praised. Naruto choked on his ramen while trying to laugh loudly and Kakashi couldn't hide the smile that appeared on his lips and through his mask.

Sakura's eyes turned dark, "I remember that."

Sometimes being hit by a scary woman never felt so good.

When Sai could finally figure it out, he would do everything within his power to take away the pain that tormented those that meant the most to him.

First though, he needed to buy new books.

* * *

I need a beta reader for this story... like seriously XD. The job won't be hard, I promise... ish.

So... a little insight into Naruto's pain... gasp.


	5. Visits for the Vendetta

Premise: Team 7 all dealt with Sasuke's betrayal and death in different ways. Naruto became Konoha's best and somehow hardest working Hokage, Kakashi nurses a drink every night at the bar and Sakura has resorted to breaking other peoples hearts. KakaSaku

* * *

Chapter 5: Visits for the Vendetta

"So Hikari-chan, why aren't you getting your check up done with Ino-chan?" Sakura asked casually as she tapped on the little girl's knee and watched as it jumped up.

A magical laugh bubbled in the air as the girl covered her mouth and bounced up and down on the examination table, "I don't want to."

"And why not Hikari-chan?"

"Because!"

"Oh, that's a very good answer," Sakura murmured as she smiled sweetly and scribbled random little things on her chart. Hikari stared up at Sakura with the girl's mother's eyes and pouted when Sakura once again shifted her eyes towards the window.

"Why are you always looking at the Hokage Tower Sakura-san?"

Sakura blinked before she smiled, "I'm just looking out for some things."

"What things?"

"Important things."

"Like Naruto-sama?"

Sakura laughed, "Yes, Naruto would be an important thing wouldn't he?" The little girl was definitely taking after her mother and it even seemed like endless periods of time with Shikamaru was also managing to up her intelligence to unparallel levels. "Open your mouth Hikari-chan."

Hikari grinned as she opened her mouth and Sakura giggled when she saw that the girl was missing two of her front teeth. "Happy that those teeth finally came out huh?"

"You know about them?"

"Pig told me… I mean Ino-chan."

"Pig… Ino-chan… ohhhh."

"Don't call her that. She won't like you very much if you call her that Hikari-chan."

The little girl frowned a bit as she looked out of the window that directly faced the Hokage's office. She could see Naruto-sama inside the office working away on his boring paper work. Hikari looked back up at Sakura and noticed that Sakura was once again staring at the Hokage Tower and more specifically Naruto. "Do you like Naruto-sama?"

Sakura whipped her head back down to stare at the girl with the most bewildered eyes, "I uh…" Sakura blinked, 'random attack much?'

"Do you have a crush on Naruto-sama, Sakura-san?" Hikari sang with all of the mischievousness of a possible future matchmaker. Sakura had to avoid that at all cost. Hikari wasn't only showing signs of being like Shikamaru, she was also showing signs of Yamanaka Ino in her expressions.

"No," Sakura muttered, "No I don't Hikari-chan, but why do you ask?"

"Because…"

"Because…?"

Hikari's pout seemed to enlarge by ten fold as she kicked her heels against the examination table, "I saw Ino-chan kissing Shika-kun yesterday."

Sakura blinked, "I see…" Sakura thanked the gods that that was all Hikari had seen the couple doing. Then Sakura wondered why that had anything to do with Hikari's suspicion that she liked Naruto. Sakura jumped back to the real issue at hand and wondered if Asuma's ghost would haunt Shikamaru if Hikari had seen anything else other than kissing. Sakura giggled to herself thinking that Asuma would find any excuse to haunt Shikamaru and make fun of him for finally getting together with Ino.

Hikari huffed with an exasperated sigh as though Sakura was the most foolish person on the face of the earth for not immediately understanding, "Ino-chan shouldn't be kissing Shika-kun."

"And why not?" Sakura questioned curiously as she pulled out a wooden stick, opened her mouth, watched as Hikari opened her own mouth reflexively and the poked lightly around Hikari's mouth with the wooden stick.

"Because," Hikari explained while a wave of her finger and mumbling around the wooden stick, "You only kiss when you're going to get married!"

Sakura choked, "Really?" Danger signals were bouncing around Sakura's head like a bouncy ball that was thrown by Naruto.

"Really!"

"So why is it a bad thing that Ino-chan and uh… Shika-kun are going to get married?" They were… eventually, when Shikamaru would finally stop with all the troublesome crap and would just get down on one knee or Sakura hoped it would happen eventually, for Shikamaru's sake.

Hikari waited albeit impatiently as the wooden stick held her tongue down before Sakura pulled away with a nod and another scribble on her clipboard, "Because I'm going to be the one to marry Shika-kun, Sakura-san!" Sakura promptly dropped her pen as she tried to stifle a burst of laughter from erupting out of her throat. "I'm going to marry Shika-kun and then I'm going to be named Nara Hikari…" Her eyes were glowing with childish love as her cheeks flushed. Sakura's eyes softened and she ruffled the little girl's hair. It hurt to see young girls in love. She couldn't help but believe in doom for those once small feelings.

"Don't tell your mother that… actually don't tell anyone but Chouji-kun that," Sakura murmured as she smiled at the girl. The Akimichi would get a great laugh out of that. Kurenai would probably just be sad that her daughter was already growing up so fast. 'Oh Asuma-senpai… look at your daughter now…' "So you asked me if I had a crush on Naruto-sama because you have a crush on Shika-kun?"

Hikari rolled her eyes, "How troublesome," Sakura once again resisted the urge to gurgle her laughter, "I don't have a crush on Shika-kun… I _love_ Shika-kun."

"Strong words for a little girl," Sakura murmured as she backed away and headed for the lollipop jar. She took another discreet peak out of her window to make sure that Naruto still wasn't in any trouble. Kakashi waved at her from his position on the roof of the tower before going back to his bright orange, beacon of a novel. Although Sakura already knew the answer, sometimes she had to question how Kakashi had never been spotted and killed the moment that he got on the field with a target that bright for reading material. Then again Naruto, in the past, has worn that same bright orange color on every part of his body and he assuredly wasn't dead either. Sakura paused a moment in her thought process and then wanted to smack herself, wasn't she the one who always wore bright red in the field? Sakura thought that maybe she should change that awful habit of hers.

Kakashi had been kind enough to cover for her when a hassled Kurenai had come by begging for "apparently anyone but Ino-chan" to do the check up. Being that this was Kurenai's only daughter and she still had the "worried sick all the time" syndrome, the hospital director was the only other legitimate doctor other than Yamanaka Ino.

"I love Shika-kun!" Hikari pronounced again as though saying it meant that it was real. Sakura smiled sadly; at that age, it was real. For all Sakura knew, it would be real forever, but she hoped not, because even though it would probably take a while, Shikamaru was eventually going to get on one knee… free will or not.

Sakura handed the girl the lollipop and Hikari promptly ripped off the wrapper and stuck the sweet into her mouth. "Then I guess you'll just have to fight Ino-chan."

"I'll obviously win, Sakura-san."

"I don't doubt it."

Hikari grinned, "Thank you Sakura-san. Can I go now?"

Sakura smiled, "That's what the lollipop means."

Hikari squealed and jumped off the table. She almost ripped open the door and pattered down the hall to where Kurenai was sitting in the waiting room with her head back and her eyes closed. Sakura wondered if it was really worth it to have a child someday before she shook her head and snorted. Something like that was no longer even a choice for her. "Mommy!"

"All done?" Kurenai sighed.

"All done!"

Kurenai sighed and stood up. Sakura approached the two with a smile, "Hello Kurenai-senpai."

"Sakura-san, thank you so much again. I don't know what came over Hikari today. Usually she's so good about letting Ino do her check ups…"

"Pig!"

Sakura didn't even see Kurenai's head snap down to stare at her daughter, "What?"

"Pig-chan, mommy."

Kurenai looked back up at Sakura while the pink haired girl rubbed the back of her head and sheepishly laughed, "Not my fault."

Kurenai sighed and laughed before she took Hikari's hand. "Let's go home. Thank you again Sakura."

"Anytime."

Sakura watched as the mother and daughter duo walked towards the stairwell and resisted the urge to giggle as Kurenai lectured her daughter on the use of appropriate nicknames for appropriate people. Sakura considered getting Kurenai on Sai's case eventually. The woman sounded convincing enough.

"What was that Forehead?"

Sakura turned her head to look over her shoulder at Ino who had all of her weight on one foot, her arms crossed and her fingers tapping. "What was what Pig-chan?" Sakura grinned as she peeled off her medical coat and walked back into the examination room.

"Did you teach her that?"

"I didn't teach her anything that she didn't want to learn."

"Why was she doing her check ups with you?"

"Because Pig-chan…"

"Forehead, stop calling me that!"

"You have competition," Sakura sang like a little schoolgirl.

Ino blinked, "What?"

Sakura couldn't help but burst out laughing as she signaled to Kakashi that she was going to be returning to the Hokage Tower as soon as possible. He waved to her again as though he had x-ray vision and could see through the pages of his book. "You have competition."

"Competition for what?"

"For Shika-kun," Sakura grinned as she playfully drew a heart with her fingers in the air and blew the imaginary shape toward her friend.

Ino blinked again, "Wha…"

"Hikari-chan loves Shika-kun and is going to win when she fights you for his hand in marriage," Sakura sang, "And tsk tsk Ino, kissing is only for married couples."

Ino's mouth opened and closed in shock as she automatically tailed Sakura out of the examination room and into the records room where Sakura stored Sarutobi Hikari's file after that of her late father's. "But shouldn't Shika be like a father figure to Hikari?"

"You told me yourself that Chouji is more of a kid person."

Sakura could feel the flames burst out of Ino's eyes, "That little kid is never going to win."

"Resorting to fighting a child?"

"Shikamaru is mine!"

"Fighting a child?"

"Mine!"

Sakura laughed and shook her head as Ino calmed down slightly and pouted, "I get it, I get it. I had totally forgotten that when it comes to Shikamaru you're still a little girl in love. Buy a stamp and smack your name on his forehead why don't you?"

"A ring would be better…"

"What ring?"

"Hello Shikamaru," Sakura chirped as she trotted down the hall to get her things before she left the hospital.

"What was that about a ring?" Shikamaru muttered as he looked down at Ino who was staring at him eerily. "Ino…"

"Mine," Ino growled as she latched onto his waist, "Kid or no kid…"

Shikamaru blinked slowly as everything visibly clicked. He looked away and sighed, "How troublesome…" When Sakura passed by she thought that everyone could see the smile that was playing on Shikamaru's face as Ino clung to him like a desperate monkey. "Oi, Sakura!"

"Yes?"

"Tell Naruto-sama to calm down and get emotionally organized. The elders won't give him their time of day if he doesn't."

Sakura stopped walking and hung her head low as she clenched her fists, "Emotional organization is something that won't be happening anytime soon Shikamaru… for any of us."

"I know but…"

"I would tell him if I could… but then I would be a hypocrite. Thanks for trying to be logical Shikamaru, sadly we're just not capable of it anymore."

"What is your argument this year?"

"Does it matter?" Sakura scoffed, "The elders still won't let us bring Sasuke home."

Silence.

"Forehead…"

Sakura clenched her teeth as a tear slipped down her cheek, "I would have killed them myself just to reinstate a new council that would agree to bring him home but…" Sakura didn't look at Shikamaru and Ino as she spoke knowing just who would be on the new council if the old one were to dissolve, "No one else wants Sasuke home either…"

"Sakura…" Shikamaru sighed.

"He killed your father."

Shikamaru nodded, "I know."

"You don't even want him back. You can't even make yourself to want to want him back."

"I don't."

"Shika!"

"Ino…"

"Pig, it's okay," Sakura murmured as her fist finally unclenched. Blood flowed from the crescent wounds on her palms. "Only I'm special enough to want to bring back a person who ripped out my heart…"

"You survived so it doesn't…" Ino tried to reply. Blood filled her vision and washed over her hands as her body shook from the memory. Shikamaru tugged gently on her hip and Ino let out the breath that she was holding. The red disappeared. One tear had escaped the corner of her eye and Shikamaru quickly flicked it away with his thumb.

"Troublesome woman," Shikamaru murmured soothingly.

"Too bad my heart was ripped out anyway. I'll see you two later," Sakura muttered and left the hospital door open behind her.

"I… I…"

"Your speechless, I know," Shikamaru murmured and wrapped his other arm around her waist to hug her tightly.

"I love her…" Ino murmured, "And that's why I can't forgive him for almost letting her die in my arms."

~V~

Sakura walked into the Hokage's office where Naruto was till reading through his documents looking like he would fall out of his chair at any moment and Sai was still painting while sitting on his couch in the corner of the room. Sakura regretted being too lazy to go get some food herself when she saw the state that Naruto was in but she knew that Izumo and Kotetsu could probably handle a couple bowls of ramen even if they slightly messed up the order. "How's it going?"

"It's the same every year," Naruto growled and slammed his fist down on the desk in a fit of frustration, "I'm digging through the same information, going through the same reports that are all saying the exact same things. Nothing's changed, I haven't found anything new, I don't know how I can make it change!" He threw his papers to the ground and slammed his head on the table, "And then I even know that there are missing reports because I still don't know… for the love of god where could that old hag have hidden them!"

Then again Sakura didn't regret that she hadn't gone out to get food. She would have probably missed his stress attack that way and she had known that it was coming soon. She was just happy it hadn't happened while she had still been in the hospital. Kakshi and Sai didn't know how to deal with a stressed Naruto as well as she did. Sai looked up and gave a nod to Sakura as the girl swept up behind Naruto and forcibly heaved his head from the table and made him lean back on his chair. "Close your eyes Naruto and I suggest that you stop calling Tsunade-sama an old hag. There might be a chance that she could hear you and then she could come running back to crush all your bones into dust. And then I would have to heal you all the while filling out a million reports about why the retired Godiame Hokage had attacked the Rokudiame and how it was 'legitimate' and justified."

"Sakura-chan," Naruto murmured as he did as he was told while pouting like a child all the while. He felt her cool chakra trickling over the abrasion on his forehead and he whimpered a bit. "Why is it that everything that is written down isn't everything that is known?"

"Because only we know," Sakura murmured gently, "He was our friend, our teammate and our comrade. Only we knew what Sasuke-kun was like before the demons had gotten to him."

A tear escaped from Naruto's closed eye as he scrunched up his nose and squeezed shut his eyelids. Sakura calmly wiped away the tear while she slowly massaging Naruto's face to calm him down. "What can I do to bring him home Sakura-chan?"

Sakura leaned forward and rested her forehead on Naruto's. He opened his eyes to stare at the ceiling as her soothing heat flowed into him, "Just be yourself Naruto, just be yourself and that is the best we can do."

Naruto laughed bitterly, "I wish that being myself was good enough."

Sakura laughed as well, "I do too, but you know… you usually are."

"Not where it counts."

Sai looked up from his painting and then back down again as he quickly etched in Sakura's form. He still didn't really understand what sadness was even though he felt it, but as he sketched down the scene before him, he believed that he had finally found it. With a little graze of his charcoal on the paper he drew the tears that were dripping off the end of Sakura's eyelashes and curling into Naruto's spiked hair.

Kakashi continued to sit outside the window of the Hokage Tower questioning his existence and all that it had brought in his life. Every year since Sasuke's death and Naruto's change into power, the blonde had looked and scanned through the files of the darkest times to find some sort of light that could bring the last member of Team 7 back home. Kakashi knew what those files contained and he knew why, in the end, Naruto never used any of them to argue Sasuke's return. Each and every other story surrounding the last Uchiha wished for him never to return, to simply disappear. His existence should be erased from Konoha forever was basically the last stand

Of course without evidence for Sasuke's innocence in a life that was filled with darkness, no one would agree to bring him home. The meeting every single year almost always contained three people trying not to cry and kill while the rest looked on with cold eyes. They could do nothing but tell the stories of when they had been twelve and who in their right minds would consent bringing a criminal home on such biased pretenses.

Kakashi wondered what it meant for Sasuke's existence to disappear. Would it mean that that part of Naruto, Sakura and Kakashi had never existed as well, that Team 7 had always just been a folly? Did it mean that who they were now, those that were fighting for this man's return, would also disappear? He stopped thinking as he closed his orange covered novel and disappeared into the city streets. Kakashi needed to get away.


End file.
